Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Okay,

So this blog has been dormant for awhile now. Very dormant. Asleep might be a better word.

This was partly due to the Great Recession, which we now would all like to forget, if possible, and partly due to my having started a couple of other blogs and a twitter account that all took up some of my time and attention, and together made it tough for me to even remember this one.

Lame, I know.

In the interim from the previous post to this one, I decided to complete a couple of fiction novels, and start a few more. So... that's what I did.

The first novel is Black Ice, a murder mystery thriller set in a black ice storm,

in late December, 1979, in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

This is the beginning of a series.

The next novel in this series will be called something like Grey Storm, or maybe Grey Blizzard.

I haven't decided yet. But it will be a murder mystery thriller set in the town of McMinnville, Oregon,

on May 18, 1980, when Mt. St. Helens nearby in Washington blew its top,

and ash fell all over the Northwest, including the town of McMinnville, for many days.

The town was almost silent while the ash fell...

A murderer took the opportunity to do something terrible,

and then to try to escape before being caught.

That coming novel will have the same two main characters at Black Ice,

and for the moment, that's all I can divulge about it.

The second novel I completed during this time is called Fear of Intimacy.

The cover actually needs a little more work before it is the final version.

For one thing, I'm going to change the font so that it matches Black Ice.

I think I need to have a consistent look among my thrillers, even though they are each the beginning of different series... something about marketing or branding or some other goofy concept that I barely understand.

Fear of Intimacy is a story I have been working on, off and on really, for over 15 years.

If that seems like a long time to you, I can relate. It seems even longer to me.

But it is now nearly done, and I am going through the final edit to get it ready for publication.

It is about a middle aged man and his grown son, and their difficult relationships with women.

One of the women has her own severe difficulties with emotional intimacy,

as a result of serious abuse she survived as a child.

The story begins in Portland, Oregon, in the Pearl District, and is largely set in the art world.

The story moves through the Minneapolis Art Museum,

and Jackson, Wyoming, and then on to a sailboat trip from California to Hawaii.

The conclusion of the story on the sailboat trip sees four people embark, and one survives.

This one is also the beginning of its own, separate series.

The next novel/thriller in the series will be Fear of Failure.

That novel will be followed by Fear of Commitment, and others.

I am also writing a novel with my father, Gary Lawrence, that will be coming out late this year or early next year. I hope. I don't even have a title for that one yet, but it will be really a fun read.

It starts with a chapter that completely surprises and delights people when I give them the synopsis.

It is a thriller with a conscience.

The reason I don't know when it will be out is because, while first drafts now go really quickly for me, editing takes a long time, and it is hard work. But it is worth it. Editing well is its own reward.

Or something like that.

But I know it is important.

How do I know this? Ernie said so, in a manner of speaking.

As Ernest Hemingway once said,

"Write drunk, edit sober."

Of course, I have decided to adapt this saying to my own situation.

This is how it goes:

"Write drunk, edit sober, nap hungover."

I think that says it all.

I look forward to releasing the first two novels, and following them with more stories.

And I hope people like them.

I hope you like them.

If you are people, that is.

If you are animals or aliens, or robots, I may not put quite as much stock in your opinion.

Don't Look Too Close

About Me

Bradley is a currently attempting to get way with living as an average Human on planet Earth.
Burning Man experiences do not qualify one for College Credit, it turns out.
Politics, Economics, International Relations; these are not just big strange words after all.